MERS-CoV, South Korea, Cases (7 June 2015)

As of early this morning (presumably including cases up to Sunday 7th June), there are now 87 cases of MERS-CoV infection in South Korea, with 6 deaths. The updated list of cases is at the Flutrackers forum here. There is also a list of 24 hospitals that is managing or had been visited by patients with MERS, although some inaccuracies have been noted in the list. There appears to be at least one other “super-spreader”, a 40-year-old man who had been on the same ward as the index case at St Mary’s Hospital in Pyeongtaek, and who had visited and transmitted the virus to other patients at Kon Yang University Hospital and Daejeon Dae Cheong Hospital. Virtually all transmissions of MERS-CoV in South Korea to date have occurred within the hospital setting. It is difficult to tell from the available information whether there is a 4th generation of cases (counting from the index case) at this point in time. Here is a slightly different chart looking at the cases in the various hospitals, based on the case list mentioned above. It is clear that the outbreak has yet to reach a plateau.

MERS-CoV cases in South Korea according to date of confirmation and hospitals involved.